tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73638717313844377582024-02-19T23:53:56.618-08:00Critical HitNick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-38361535528973802162012-07-05T20:47:00.004-07:002012-07-05T20:47:39.765-07:00The Future of MMOs is...now going to be discussed via <a href="http://1000damage.wordpress.com/">WordPress</a>.<br />
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For the couple of people that have commented and discussed ideas with me here, thank you.<br />
For all the lurkers who read a post or two, pondered, and left just about as enlightened as before, thank you.<br />
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And for those who have never and will never see this blog, well... cheers!<br />
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For the most part, I see blogs that discuss their impressions of new MMOs, thoughts on old ones, and discussion about the problems that the industry faces. This is great, and I don't want to wedge myself into an already crowded blogosphere.<br />
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<a href="http://1000damage.wordpress.com/">My new blog can be found here</a> for all you stragglers.<br />
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Happy hunting!<br />
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-MNick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-39988029033299004632010-09-13T18:00:00.000-07:002010-09-13T20:48:21.019-07:00Factions<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15.8333px; ">I was initially considering doing away with the 2 competing factions idea. Right now, it's mostly for PvP purposes, and rarely it's used for PvE and EvE purposes, so I was thinking of scrapping it.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>But before I ruled it out, I came up with another thought of the day:</div><div><br /></div><div>Factions that matter:</div><div><br /></div><div>What if the factions are actually tied to the plot? You can play as whatever you like. Now this goes along with my previous thought, that the world will END someday. That the MMO itself will only last 6 years or so, and then finish forever. And by the end there will be the final battle, which is between the factions!</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's say 3 factions, all competing in the final battle for supremacy. And because it's the end, one will win! Thus altering the whole plot of the game at the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once again, far from perfect, but just my thought of the day.</div><div>Let the imbalance issues pour forth!</div><div><br /></div>Nick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-34407335924073511642010-09-12T17:49:00.000-07:002010-09-12T17:54:43.607-07:00HeroicThought of the day.<div><br /></div><div>Why not make an MMO in which you can create 2 types of characters:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Normal "adventurer" characters, and</div><div>2. Hero characters.</div><div><br /></div><div>The difference is, the hero characters get some pretty cool unique abilities, and they make a significant impact on the world. As in, you get written into the lore, and are recognized by NPCs more widely. You have a few more options, such as political sway, and get to engage in some of the more epic parts of the game. The catch - Heros get perma-death. If they die, that's the end. They might build a statue of said hero, but you don't get to play them anymore. You can create another hero, but the one that died is now integrated into the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>Good idea, bad idea? Haven't really thought it through yet.</div>Nick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-36575655594569610042010-08-25T12:24:00.000-07:002010-08-25T16:03:03.064-07:00The FormulaMassively Mutliplayer Online Role Playing Game.<div><br /></div><div>The grand daddy of all games, in terms of potential. The hardest to design, the most difficult to balance, and the hardest audience to please. This is no easy task. But let us examine for a moment some of the fundamental designs of such a gargantuan product.</div><div><br /></div><div>What motivation do the players, whether in a group or alone, continue month after month to play the game? What makes them want to come back for more?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, the only MMO I have played extensively enough to understand all it's mechanics and design, is World of Warcraft. So you're going to see a lot of references to Blizzard's design, which may differ somewhat (if at all) from <name>, and spark rebuttal, However I think that most MMOs are designed enough like WoW that I can make general statements that stretch across the market as a whole.</name></div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, with the background out of the way, /rant on.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /></div><br />In this post, I will often refer to Bartle's 4 MMO types, which he categorizes as the Achiever, Killer, Explorer, and Socializer. Having taken the test, I come out primarily Explorer, with a lot of Achiever, and almost no Killer/Socializer, which actually does fit my playstyle well.<div><br /></div><div>Ok, now for a few opinionated percentages:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>World of Warcraft, (X% of the content is aimed at Y)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>1. 60% Achievers</div><div>2. 30% Killers</div><div>3. 5% Explorers</div><div>4. 5% Socializers</div><div><br /></div><div>The majority of all content that was, is, and ever will be created for World of Warcraft, is trying to appeal to the Achiever in us. And those of us (like me), who have a reasonably strong Achiever side, will reasonably enjoy the game. Those who are all about the Killing, will soon get bored with WoW and move on to something offers a bit more... PvP. Heavy Explorers (like me) will get bored with WoW the more they play it, and eventually quit for good. Socializers will just seek refuge in Second Life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which brings me to my next point (just keep reading, the good part is coming, I swear :), PvP and PvE. In WoW terms, the game relies exclusively on these two elements. Think about it...</div><div><br /></div><div>1. The Grind (Achiever) - OpenWorld leveling, soloing, heavy questing makes up the bulk of it.</div><div>2. The Raid (Achiever) - Instances, Raids, essentially what makes up the "end game"</div><div><br /></div><div>So if the Raid is the "end game", and the Grind is everything else, what's there for the Killers?</div><div><br /></div><div>3. The BattleGround (Killer) - A long time ago, WoW had stronger open-world PvP elements, and they are introducing a small injection of it again with Wrath + Cataclysm. However, PvP essentially boils down to the Arena, the BattleGround, and</div><div>4. The Gank (Killer) - open-world PvP.</div><div><br /></div><div>Granted there ARE a few elements for the explorer and socializer... namely,</div><div><br /></div><div>5. The Lore (Explorer) - books and quest text and things that give you background history.</div><div>6. The RP (Socializer) - RP servers and guilds.</div><div><br /></div><div>The content of the game is geared almost exclusively to invite Achievers and Killers (mostly achievers). Thus, Achiever content has come to be known as <b>PvE</b>, while Killer content tends to drift towards <b>PvP</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>WoW (and many MMOs for that matter) are exclusively defined by<b>:</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>quality_of_MMO_content = PvP + PvE;</b></div><div>which is running on the assumption that all MMOs must be designed off of the foundation of having PvP and PvE, just for the sake of having them. Now, I would like to point out a fatal flaw here.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is going to sound terrible, I know, but:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>THE PROBLEM IS THE (P).</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Yes, the player. The focus is all on YOU. Your level, your progression (or the lack thereof), and your adventure. The formula works... to some extent. But it is arranged to keep playing because of your level. Because you want to achieve that next carrot on that ever-elusive stick. As has been stated a hundred times on the blogosphere, it's to "give the illusion of progression". Now this next formula may look a bit strange.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>EvE + P</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a bit of a radical rearrangement. You'll notice there's a part called "EvE" (Environment vs. Environment). This means that whether the player exists or not, the world is in constant conflict, and if the player doesn't take action, the world WILL! The adventure is still yours to enjoy, but it's not about you anymore. It's about you taking part of something much bigger than yourself (like your own level). Imagine for a moment, this world that is acting under the forces of governments, organizations, individuals that are constantly struggling for power. Now place that in a setting that is... explorable. A new world in which NPCs, as well as players are constantly unlocking new things (areas, events, items, civilizations). That's where the (P) Element comes in, as a part of a whole. Adding P will add to the world's quality in general. The more P, the better. But the P is just a part of the EvE, or the world.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What is the motivation of <b>P</b> in this <b>EvE</b> world? To advance the plot. Let's look at it from a different angle... you remove all levels from players and NPCs. And you put them on the world. Yes, the WORLD has a level. It's level 1. And now, your focus is no longer on yourself. Your little instance of your character, which no matter how high a level will not influence anything around you. Now, your focus is on the world. Everything you do to move the plot forward, will advance the experience of the world plot bar. All players everywhere are pouring their experience into it. You log in, as a group or solo, and try to advance your world. And when you log off, your efforts are felt worldwide. They matter.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now make it a bit more complex, not just a world, but actually have a branching plot-line prepared by the developers (or for smaller events, generated by the engine itself). The players in this world are pouring their experience points into one of the two branches, and whichever one dings first, that branch is the plot-line that really occurs in the world. Permanently. History is made.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And it doesn't just have to be the all-consuming epic main-plot. You can contribute even as a newb. All player's actions (as well as the NPCs actions) are producing these great streams of plotlines, that influence the big rivers of plot, which eventually decides what happens!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*pants for breath*</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, it seems that I've gotten quite a bit ahead of myself. This has been a mammoth post, and it's all very idealistic. But the reason I've posted it, is not just to put ideals out there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> "Of course we would love to see this as a game, but you can't actually make such a thing", shouts a few people. And I don't expect everyone even agrees that it's a good idea in the first place. But in my next few posts, I'm going to discuss the technical side. The nuts and bolts of how it will actually work. So for now, I'd like to hear your opinions. Anyone who has something to say, so let it be written. (and anyone who has managed to read all the way to the end of this poorly formatted beast, I congratulate you).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">/end rant</div>Nick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-76603674160505981752010-08-23T13:14:00.001-07:002010-08-24T06:56:51.342-07:00The Warcraft Project<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Alright, so I renounced my anti-WoW vows in the name of science. I decided to return, just for a few hours to reroll and analyze what kind of experience I would have. For the purposes of this experiment, I played 2 sessions, about 60 minutes each.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Session 1</span></span><div><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Human Warrior, Elwynn Forest.</span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For the first session, I went for 100% achiever. I enabled InstaQuest text, quest tracking and about a half a dozen map addons and doodads that basically make questing easier than Blizzard could have possibly wanted it in the first place. My focus? Leveling speed and accomplishing as many quests as possible in as short time as possible.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To be honest, I don't really remember much about it. Just that I was always in a hurry, always impatient, and desperately trying to decimate as many groups of ten forest critters as possible. I wiped a few times (mostly when trying to run through merloc areas. I had a few heroic moments fending off prolific numbers of the blasted creatures, which made me feel good whenever I managed to actually survive.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There were a few other players wandering around, but for the most part, I was too busy to interact with them. They were in my way.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Alright, Stage 2. I wanted a bit of cooldown time, so I slept on it, gave it 24 hours before starting my next roll.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Session 2</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Night Elf Druid, Teldrassil</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ok, so for this 60 minute experiment, I decided to change my attitude to 100% explorer. And what happened really surprised me.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I actually watched the intro video in full, and the first thing I did was disable all quest-related helpers (quests text gradually faded onto the page). Map addons, everything off. Then I cranked up all of the environmental effects, all music (on constant loop) and ambient sounds, pet noises, everything.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And for the first 2 seconds, it bothered me. It was like jumping into cold water, with all my familiar addons gone, and the very first quest I accepted, I had to impatiently wait for each line of text to fade is ponderous way onto the page. But I made myself read every word. It was actually really nice, because I don't think I have ever read the quest text of the Night Elf starting area before. And I quickly got used to it (seriously, not much to adjust to).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Before I got to slaying boars in the name of nature, I decided to check out my surroundings in full, and for the first time in years (on WoW), I looked UP. At the SKY. I looked at the mammoth trees, and the canopy miles ahead, and all the textures up there filtering the sunlight. All the junk that the developers made up there, that I have never even glanced at before. There were little blue glowing spirits floating around everywhere, and for a moment it was kind of stunning (cartoony or not, I did feel a little bit like I was in a "world").</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And so I began my adventures. In the beginning, I racked up quite a few quests, and it was getting hard to keep track of them all (without my addOn crutches). So I started inviting the other people that had started there to join a group and adventure together. Which was a bit of a disappointment. I invited about 6 people that were running around doing the same quests I had, and every one of the declined immediately. Almost as if it was an annoyance, an unwanted misquito flitting near their ear while they were trying to quest. They all turned the invitations down without saying a single word.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Well, that was a bit discouraging, because they were all doing what I HAD been doing with my Human Warrior. Ignoring everything except the quest at hand, even if grouping would (A) get the quest done faster, and (B) be infinitely more fun. Oh well. I quickly abandoned that front, and continued my meanderings around the forest in solitude.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I did have a bit of fun with one particular quest chain. (I was ignoring the item/exp rewards, and just completing a quest solely if I felt like it). There's a guy named Iverron, who has been bitten by this nasty little spider matriarch, and he's dying. So I run back to his girlfriend, in the attitude of exclaiming, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Your man is lying poisoned out in the forest about 20 seconds away from here, we should go save him!" And she being the standard NPC, replied with dialogue along the lines of,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Well, if by 'we' you're really trying to say 'you', then go ahead. But first, I need you to complete a random fetch quest to collect ingredients for the antidote".</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And with a sigh, I went off to harvest flowers and grass and the like. Well, we made the potion, and I fed it to Iverron, who celebrated by... giving me his PANTS. Yes, the exact same pair of pants that he happened to have equipped was the quest reward. As if to say,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"No don't worry about me, I'll be fine in a minute thanks to you. Go on without me, but before you go, please take my pants. I want you to have them now. Use them well..."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">After a few more story-driven romps through the woodland, I had my very first player interaction. One of the robot druids I had seen and invited earlier also happened to be at the spider cave I was trying to infiltrate. And at one point we both targeted the same spider, and wrathed the living scrud out of it. At first it was kind of one of those awkward moments, like when you both reach for something and find each other holding hands. But we laughed it off, gave each other a buff and wished one another good luck. I'm really glad because I was starting to think that everyone in the zone was a mindless leveling drone who would not stop to say a word to you unless it was a quest.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I had a few more adventures, collected a nice fatty spider egg that was simply spewing quest glitter as if to say, "LOOK AT ME I AM A QUEST OBJECTIVE... NO YOU FOOL, I'M OVER HERE!" I was also a bit baffled at the drop rate for spider legs, which surpassingly was much less than 8 per spider. And there were quite a few who despite using poison debuffs in battle, yielded no venom sack. Generally, though, my adventures were... fun! I enjoyed it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Conclusion</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">So, what did I take from this? Being an explorer was ridiculously more fun for me. I remembered so much more, and I logged out at the end of my hour with a much greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I learned a lot more about the world, and I'll remember the name of that player who I met, "Roas" for a while now.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">With the same amount of time, I did technically accomplish a lot more in Session 1,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Session 1 - 1 Hour, about halfway to level 9. Several dozen quests completed</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Session 2 - 1 Hour, barely dinged level 5, only completed a few of the available quests.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">But I would take Session 2 any day. I was just so much more worth the time I put into it. So by no means is this a real study, but I think I learned a bit from it. Perhaps the way to make play more meaningful is not to add increasingly epic quests. Maybe not to add MORE quests. But if we change how leveling or questing is done, and invite people to interact with each other, I think people will come away with a better overall experience.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Anyways, draw what conclusions you may.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div>Nick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-25348785986034541572010-08-19T22:45:00.000-07:002010-08-19T22:54:18.374-07:00It's about timeIm back. I'll have to describe my adventures in Japan at some other time. Right now, I'm back to business with MMOs and games in general. I have a lot of ideas that need to be put down on paper (or that weird ethereal material that makes up blog structure).<br /><br />Some things I care a lot about right now.<br /><br />1. Reinventing the RTS. It hasn't changed much at all in the last 10 years.<br />2. Reinventing the MMO. It SERIOUSLY hasn't changed at all since 2004. About time for an extreme makeover.<br />3. Random other devious projects.<br /><br />So it would seem that my 2 years off the grid has caused me to miss... a whole lot of nothing. Really. Nothing epic or industry-changing seems to have happened in the last 2 years. Age of Conan doesn't seem to have lived up to the hype it had, and WAR also seems to have lacked a lot of what people were exited for. Good ideas, poorly implemented.<br /><br />Thinking of ideas is only half of the battle. In fact, probably only 1/25 of the battle. The hard part is implementation.<br /><br />That's why I don't claim to have all the answers. I think that I could change a lot of things, if only I knew how to implement my ideas. That's why right now, my focus is on the technical side. The mechanics of dynamic content. And it's coming slow. So from here on, I'm going to rant and put my thoughts out there, to see if I can come up with some solutions, not just complaints.<br /><br />But hey, sometimes a guy just feels like griping about the state of things. I'll do my best :)Nick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-59668328662859356092008-08-17T18:31:00.000-07:002008-08-17T18:37:11.917-07:00There and back again...Not that anyone follows this blog, but I will be going to Japan for a few years. The industry needs some time to stew in its own stagnant juices, I think, before something good will float to the top of the proverbial month-old clam chowder.<br /><br />When I return, I will resume my nonsensical barrage of half-baked concepts mixed with nice, hearty rants.<br />See you in 2010!<br /><br />- "Nick Carraway"<br />- "Humble Hobo"<br />- "Sphexish"Nick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363871731384437758.post-15274820259583902612008-01-15T15:48:00.000-08:002008-01-15T15:49:53.742-08:00First!Well, this is the first post of Critical Hit, a blog about my feelings on games... especially the MMO.Nick Carrawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236560680108659201noreply@blogger.com0